Poplar

The Customer

Poplar is an innovative platform designed to revolutionize mobile experiences with its dynamic "living grid." By combining instantly loading media, real-time chat, and a multi-screen view, Poplar offers a unique social experience for users on both web and mobile devices. Inspired by the early promise of the internet, Poplar is paving the way for the next generation of interactive digital spaces.

The Challenge

The client approached e-dimensionz with an ambitious vision: to create a fully dynamic and responsive "living grid" that could handle an immense volume of media and interactions while maintaining exceptional performance on mobile devices. Challenges included:

• Developing a 3-column interlocking grid layout for mobile - an industry-first feature that balances images, videos, GIFs, and text without compromising performance or design.
• Preventing overheating and battery drain caused by multiple active elements, including autoplaying GIFs, videos, and real-time chats.
• Achieving smooth scrolling and seamless interactions despite the high-density content and constantly resizing grid elements.
• Ensuring zero blank spaces through precise 2D bin-packing layouts that adjust dynamically as elements change size or position.
• Supporting real-time chat updates powered by WebSocket subscriptions, enabling multiple conversations to run simultaneously.
• Implementing AI-driven moderation for content, minimizing manual effort while maintaining an engaging user environment.
• Delivering a great user experience even on low and mid-range devices without compromising on speed or design.

The requirements resulted in a sizable challenge, as no existing social platform offered the combination of features Poplar needed.

The Solution

e-dimensionz Inc developed a highly optimized and innovative solution for Poplar's needs, which included the following:

• Advanced Grid Optimization
  • Designed a custom 2D bin-packing layout algorithm capable of generating and deploying space-free layouts in under 1ms. This ensured a responsive and visually appealing grid, even with thousands of elements both on- and off-screen.
  • Utilized GPU acceleration for pre-calculated layouts and smooth transitions during pagination, enabling full FPS scrolling with multiple active media elements.
• Performance Enhancements
  • Implemented hyper-optimization techniques for videos, images, and animated GIFs, including MIP-mapping strategies to adapt rendering scales based on user interaction and device capabilities.
  • Created seamless pagination stitching for continuous scrolling without stutters or delays.
  • Developed smooth resizing and transitions for grid elements, ensuring an intuitive user experience when interacting with dynamic media.
• Real-Time Features
  • Integrated WebSocket subscriptions for real-time chat feeds, enabling instant updates across multiple conversations without impacting page performance.
  • Leveraged LLM technology for automated moderation of text, images, and videos, reducing the need for manual intervention while ensuring user safety.
• Mobile Optimization
  • Engineered the platform to deliver exceptional performance even on low and mid-range devices, maintaining battery efficiency and minimizing overheating.
  • Reduced the processing load by optimizing media playback, including GIFs that animate only when visible to the user.

With these innovative solutions, Poplar achieved its goal of creating a groundbreaking platform that redefines mobile and web experiences. Poplar now stands as a trailblazer in the social media scene, setting a new standard for interactive, media-rich platforms.